Bedouin Culture & Folklore:

Hospitality | Tea and Coffee | Bedouin Tents | Food | Traditional Costume

Hospitality:
A guest is always welcome. The Bedouin believe any guest is the Guest of God _ Day’f Allah _ who is warmly welcomed as being specially brought by Allah or God. You will be invited to drink tea or coffee and to accept the Bedouin hospitality. To be nice to this guest is to honour God and in return God will be nice to you. It is not an insult to say No to the tea but you will be even more warmly embraced if you say Yes.

Tea and Coffee:
                                                                        
Tea and coffee are the traditional drinks. The tea will inevitably be very sweet and often flavoured with mint or sage or some other locally grown desert herb and served in small glasses. You will also be offered a single mouthful of the original Bedouin coffee which is served in tiny cups and is quite bitter. Coffee is an important symbol of hospitality. Shake the cup to indicate that you do not want a refill.

Bedouin Tents:
Bayt char – ‘house of hair’ - the black Bedouin tents are traditionally woven from goats’ hair. Nowadays the woven strips can be bought, but many women still weave their own. When it rains the weave contracts and doesn’t let the water in. In the heat of the summer the outside of the tent feels very hot to the touch while the inside remains blissfully cool. In the winter when it is cold outside with a small fire inside the reverse is true, and the tent stays warm and cosy. The unexpected visitor will be invited into the men’s section, although subject to close scrutiny through any holes in the curtain dividing it from the women’s section!

Food:
Mansaf:   explosion – is the national Bedouin dish served on special occasions, when there are guests or when there is a party or a wedding. It is stewed lamb with a sauce made from dried yoghurt, served on a bed of rice and bread, specially prepared over an open fire, and sprinkled with pine nuts. It is served on a large flat dish and eaten communally by hand

Zaarp: Bedouin oven – a whole goat is cooked in the heat of a fire built in a small underground stone oven. An oven is built from stones leaving the top open. A big fire is built in this oven and when the fire has burnt down the goat is placed on the ashes. The opening is sealed with more stones and the whole is sealed and covered with a thick layer of mud. It takes 2 hours to cook. Zaarp is served as a picnic – a very nice picnic!

Traditional Costume:

The traditional dress for the Bedouin man is the long robe, dish-dash or jallabiya, and the plain or checked headscarf, the hattah. There are many colours, it is a matter of personal preference and season. For example, white in the summer and coloured in the winter.